The EU is planning to introduce new rules that will require all food products sold in Europe containing meat or dairy ingredients to carry country of origin labelling for those ingredients, the Irish Farmers Journal can reveal.

This would mean any food products sold across Europe containing Irish meat or dairy ingredients would need to carry a label on the packaging that Ireland is the country of origin for those ingredients.

Given Ireland’s focus as a food exporter, there are concerns in the Irish food industry that this new country of origin labelling could create a wave of ‘food nationalism’ in Europe and goes against the ethos of the single market.

The Irish Farmers Journal has seen a draft plan of the EU’s proposed new Farm to Fork strategy for sustainable food systems, which sets out a whole range of changes to European food policies over the coming decade.

The EU’s draft plan also contains a recommendation to develop an EU-wide brand label

The EU’s draft plan also contains a recommendation to develop an EU-wide brand label that reflects the environmental and climate footprint of food products.

From the perspective of the Irish food industry, this would certainly be an attractive development given the carbon efficiency of our grass-based production model.

Diets

The draft plan seen by the Irish Farmers Journal also shows that the EU intends to develop a range of ‘sustainable dietary guidelines’ for European consumers, with consideration given to both the environmental impact and nutritional quality of the food.

Again, this is an area that is likely to cause significant friction, with different member states and environmental groups pushing for a ‘sustainable diet’ that meets their needs/agenda.

The EU’s new ‘Farm to Fork’ strategy for food is being spearheaded by Stella Kyriakidou, the European Commissioner for Health, and not DG Agri or the European Commissioner for Agriculture Janusz Wojciechowski.